Vehicle-wheel.



G. A. RUSSELL.

VEHICLE WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 27, 1910.

Patented Sept. 17, 1912.

IIWENTOH I WITNESSES.

A NORA/7 in the rotation of the wheel,

CHARLES A. RUSSELL, or PROVIDENCE, BHODEQISLAND.

VEHICLE-WHEEL.

roaster.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 17, 1912.

Application filed September 27, 1910. Serial No; 584,066.'

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES A. RUSSELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at. the city of Providence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented. certain new and useful Improve ments in Vehi.cle-\/Vheels, of which the following is a specification, reference being had This invention relates to new and useful improvements in vehicle wheels, its object being to provide means whereby all shocks and jars are absorbed through the medium of metallic springs inserted at the hub, thereby preventing these shocks from being transmitted to the axle and to thebody of the vehicle, obviating in a measure the ne cessity of using pneumatic tires for this purose.

p A further object of the invention is to so construct the springs and attach the same to the members of the Wheel hub that they can be very readily, removed and replaced for inspection and repairs.

A further object of the invention is to so shape the springs and attach their ends to the members of the wheel that the whole spring is permitted to work at every pointwithout bringing an-excessive strain on any particular part of the spring.

' Still a further object of this invention is to provide means for stiffening and firmly supporting the wheel laterally against yielding to any side thrust andat the same time provide a dust-tight casing to protect the springs.

With these and other objects. in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, as will be more fully described and particularly'poiiited out in the appended claims. g

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1- is a side elevation of my improved vehicle wheel showing a portion of one of the guide plates removed to better show the springs mounted therein. Fig. 2- is a central sectional" edge view of a portion; of the wheel. Fig. 3- is an enlarged view of one of the springs, slightly modified. Fig. 4 is an enlarged view illustrating the manner of holding the ends of the springs whereby every portion of the spring is permitted to yield as' the wheel revolves. Fig. 5- illustrates another form of the open-mouthed slot in which the resilient necks are retained.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the hub member of the wheel which may be made in any desired form to fit the axle of any vehicle, said hub being preferably provi ed with an annular.flange 2, and said flange provided at intervals around its periphery with slots 3 preferably having ta pered or open mouths see Fig. 4. The inner end of each slot is preferably enlarged into a circular recess 4 for receiving and retaining the correspondingly shaped inner end 5 of each spring 6 presently described. An outer concentric ring 7 is also provided on its inner surface with a corresponding set of slots 8 and recesses, 9 for thereccption of the opposite ends 10 of'the said springs. These springs 6 are preferablyconstructed of thin fiat stock of considerable width to facilitate their constant bending without the tendency to break, each of which are formed into sub.- stantially a U-shape having itsends turned cut-ward as at 11 and 12, said ends being preferably provided with enlarged cylindrically shaped ortions 5 and 10 respectively, but these end venient sha e whereby they may be readily retained. C brresponding recesses are formed in the bottom of slots 3 and 8 for the reception of said ends. When made in cylindrical shape the ends 5 and 10 may be constructed by curling the stock as suggested in Fig. 3, or a solid cylindrical shape may be obtained as su gested in Fig. 4 by upsetting the ends or the stock or otherwise.

he essential feature in the construction ofthis spring is the com arativel'y' long o'utwardly extending flexib e neck portions 11 and 12 which lends to the spring long life, and great resiliency. The mouths of the slots 3 and 8 in the ring and hub may be formed flaring if desired to prevent the possibility of breaking the spring by constant bending at the neck,-wh1ch might be the case if these ends were held rigidly in the. slots of theirrespective members. Any desired number of spokes 13 may be connected to or interposed between the ring 7 and the outer rim 14;. On this rim a tire 15 is secured which is preferably made of solid rubber.

"In order to assist the springs 6 inilsupporting the rim against any lateral moition, and at the same time ermltting afreeivertical motion of the iiub whie !riding on said springs, I have provided two circular plates 16 and 17, both of whi are secured the ends readily entering the recess made to the hub flange 2 by bolts 18, or other convenient means, said plate being Wide enough to cover the space 19 in which the springs are located and to engage the face on each side of ring 7 in the manner best illustrated in Fig. 2.

In order to make this ring a sliding fit between these plates and yet render the joint between them dust-proof I have provided a pair of packing rings 20 and 21 held in grooves in the face on either side of the hub 7 said rings being pressed outward against the inner faces of the plates 16 and 17 by the small springs 22 and 23, which may be located at intervals around the hub ring 7, thus preventing the dust from entering the space in which the springs are located. A brake drum 24 maybe connected to the plate 16 if desired.

By myimproved construction of springs it will be noted that if for any reason one of the springs should become broken it is only necessary to remove the outer plate 17, withdraw the broken spring with a pair of pliers and slidea new one into position,

to receive them, the plate is then returned to its position and the wheel is at once restored to its normal efiiciency. a

I donotwish to be restricted to forming the springs with cylindrical ends, neither do I restrict myself to forming flaring mouthed slots and loosely mounting the spring ends in theirrespective recesses the ends: of the springs may be of any form and held in any desired manner without'departingfrom the spirit and scope of my invention the essential feature of which is the providing of substantially 'U-shaped springs with comparatively long resilientout-turned neck portions, the ends of which are retained one in the ring and the other in the hub members.

By employing elongated springs with the arms in, radial alinement it has been found in practice thatxwhen the wheelgoes in the forward directionthe resiliencyof the full length of-the. very long flat spring is ob tained, the ends-;being loosely held in the different 'parts gf I the wheel so that no strain comes on any one'point. The spring is also arranged 'so that when the wheel runs in the other direction, or p when being backed, the loop rests against the hub and supports the same against the very heavy strain which is oftenapplied, particularly to a motor'vehicle when backing.

I claim:

1. A -wheel comprising a hub, a hub ring encircling the same, a plurality of springs interposed between said hub and said hub ring, said springs being each formed of an elongated U-shaped body'having arms of unequal length, the ends of said arms being connected to the hub and hub ring respectively, and approximately in radial alinement withthe center of the hub, whereby the shorter arms of each spring will lie close to the hub when the wheel is rotating in one direction, and willicontact with said hub when rotation of the wheel is reversed.

2. A wheel comprising a hub, a hub ring encircling the same, a plurality of springs interposed between said hub and saidhub ring, said springs being each formed of an elongated U-shaped body .havingarnis of unequal length, said hub and hub rings being provided with recesses in which the ends of the springs are pivotally mounted, said ends being approximately in radial alinement with the center of the hub, and a rim supported by said hub ring.

3. A wheel comprising a hub, a hub ring encircling the same, a plurality of elongated U-shaped springs interposed between said hub and said hub. ring, and having their opposite ends loosely connected to said hub and hub ring respectively, the short arms of said springs lying close to the hub when the wheel is rotated in one di-) rection and contacting with the hub when the rotation of the wheel is reversed, and

supporting side platesengaging .and overlapping the hub and the hub ring to permit vertical movement and yet prevent lateral movement of the hub ring and springs relative to the hub.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HOWARD E. BAnLow, E. I. OGDEN. 

